Condo building management responsibility for rain damage?

[wpcoe]

I just regained control of a condo that I *thought* I had sold on a one-year rent-to-buy arrangement. Long story short: The place is mine again (after *two* years) and I need to do quite a bit of primping/repairing/replacing to get it back in shape and on the market.

SOME time during a two year period there was a water damage (stains) to the living room ceiling. The condo unit is the top floor and above it is just open "attic space" up to the roof tiles. Once prior, in a freak storm some water damage was done to one of the bedroom ceilings -- the gypsum/drywall collapsed into the room -- and the condo management attempted to fix it. Attempted, I say, because the guy they hired to fix it botched it so badly I went ahead and hired someone to fix it on my own dime.

Not knowing just when the living room water damage occurred, do I have a credible claim to have the condo management fix it? Past experience has shown that just painting over the stain probably won't be adequate, or should it be?

[Delight]

Typically a condo roof is flat.Often 'decorative 'roofs are then built on top of part of the flat roof. Typically that part of the flat roof below the 'decorative' roof is partially removed .This prevents the rooms on the top floor from overheating.

The flat part of the roof,not covered by the 'decorative 'roof, will have 'floor ' drains. if they are not kept clear then 'pooling' can occur. This ,if un attended , will result in what I can only describe as damp appearing on the walls below the 'pools'

Roof tiles need to be maintained -damaged tiles have to be replaced. Ideally the ridge tiles need to be painted with a sealant.

The JPM is responsible for building maintenance. Roofs can get neglected.

Suggest that you demonstrate to the management that maintenance has been neglected.

Also suggest that you speak with a broker who sells condo insurance.Ascertain if consequential damage to a room as a result of a leaking roof is covered.The management will probably state that you should have condo insurance. However if damage such that you refer to is not covered -this will strengthen your argument for the building insurance to pay out.

Of course there is little point in doing this if the roof leaks are not fixed.

Edited July 19, 2013 by Delight

[smutcakes]

Typically if it is coming from the common area (pipes,building defect/damage or poor maintenance) it should be covered by the Juristic Insurance policy. If the leak is emanating from 'inside' the unit-i.e your branch pipes, valves etc it would be your responsibility.

The way you describe it it seems fairly clear it should be covered by Juristic Insurance (provided they have proper cover).

Damage from leaking etc is notoriously difficult to ascertain, and often the building management staff are not capable of assessing where it is emanating from. I would advise anyone when they buy a unit to get in unit insurance- it is very cheap for a yearly policy, and whenever you have a problem like this, just put the Juristic and your unit insurance company in contact and let them negotiate between themselves. Many brokers these days when they insure Juristic if asked will provide an example of in unit insurance which Co-owners can take out which I would strongly suggest to take up, especially if you do not live here. It can get very expensive if you have a pipe break which does large amounts of damage to a unit below, especially if it is not noticed for a period of time.

[wpcoe]

Thanks for that information. It gives me a little confidence when approaching the condo front desk. I wasn't sure if the time issue were relevant.

The roof is an A-shape angled one. There is nothing between the gypsum/drywall in my ceiling and the underside of the roof tiles, except local fauna and lots of dust, dirt and cobwebs.

Is there such a thing as water stain-concealing paint here in Thailand? If painting will take care of it, I wouldn't mind doing the painting myself. The two stains are about 30cm in length each:

Here's a picture from the storm damage several years ago showing the underside of the roof from my bedroom:

[smutcakes]

Where is this? It looks very unusual construction for a condominium, how old is it?

Most condominiums have reinforced concrete structure,so you should have a slab above your unit, in your picture it looks like they have just stuck a sloping roof on it, and not bothered topping it off.

[wpcoe]

The building is maybe 25 years old? It's an A-shape cross section: Above my unit the roof slopes up, across the hall the roof slopes down.

I'm in the process of replacing the recessed ceiling lights with ones that have a lens to hopefully cut down on the spiders who I suspect are entering from above through the light can. The one room without open recessed lights has far fewer spiders. Could be a coincidence, but not a major bother to give it a try.

[sotsira]

Is there such a thing as water stain-concealing paint here in Thailand? If painting will take care of it, I wouldn't mind doing the painting myself. The two stains are about 30cm in length each:

lr-ceiling-water-stains.jpg

To conceal the water stain, first, paint over it with white oil base paint that is used for

painting wood or metal then leave to dry for 24hrs.

Then paint over with white emulsion water based paint, using

2 coats with a 10hour drying time between coats.

[wpcoe]

To conceal the water stain, first, paint over it with white oil base paint that is used for painting wood or metal then leave to dry for 24hrs.

Then paint over with white emulsion water based paint, using

2 coats with a 10hour drying time between coats.

Do you mean a primer, or just any oil based white paint? I just remembered I have about a half gallon of white primer that I used on the patio railings (they're concrete) -- would that work?

[sotsira]

To conceal the water stain, first, paint over it with white oil base paint that is used for painting wood or metal then leave to dry for 24hrs.

Then paint over with white emulsion water based paint, using

2 coats with a 10hour drying time between coats.

Do you mean a primer, or just any oil based white paint? I just remembered I have about a half gallon of white primer that I used on the patio railings (they're concrete) -- would that work?

No, not primer, just buy a small tin of white enamel oil base paint from a local DIY shop

usually 60bt.

Apply with a brush covering the stained areas only leave to dry for 24hrs

The stains should then disappear.

Paint over with white emulsion ceiling paint, for best results paint the whole ceiling with a roller

Then apply a second coat the following day.

So the whole process will take three days to complete.

[pitchag]

Is there such a thing as water stain-concealing paint here in Thailand? If painting will take care of it, I wouldn't mind doing the painting myself. The two stains are about 30cm in length each:

lr-ceiling-water-stains.jpg

Might be an idea to wash the stain with a chorine bleach solution to kill any fungus, fungus will grow under paint and work it's way through the paint. I had 40 years painting in Queensland many stained and damaged ceilings in that time

To conceal the water stain, first, paint over it with white oil base paint that is used for

painting wood or metal then leave to dry for 24hrs.

Then paint over with white emulsion water based paint, using

2 coats with a 10hour drying time between coats.

[wpcoe]

Thanks for the clarification about the oil based paints. I think I finally got the concept.

Back to the idea of the condo management handling this: Would I be within reason to expect them to not only cover up the two stains, but also paint the entire ceiling so there is no color mis-match of the final coat? The living room ceiling section is not so big, less than 30 square meters.

[JAS21]

Repairing like advised will fix it for now. The problem is ... is the roof still leaking ... probably will in heavy rain and high winds. So don't oil base paint any wider than you need to. That way you might be lucky to see another stain before the ceiling board get very wet.

The only way to see if the roof leaks is to cut a hole in the ceiling and look when it's raining hard ... easy to fix the hole.

Still if you sell before the heavy rains no problem ... for you.